Scaife ATLAS

Persians (520-584)

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg002.perseus-eng2:520-584

Refs	`{'start': {'reference': '520', 'human_reference': 'Line 520'}, 'end': {'reference': '584', 'human_reference': 'Line 584'}}`
Ancestors	`[]`
Children	`[]`

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And all too lightly did you in turn interpret it. However, since your explanation determined thus, first of all I wish to offer prayers to the gods, and then I will return after I have brought from the palace a sacrificial cake as a gift to Earth and the dead.

I know indeed that it is for what cannot be undone, yet I do this in the hope that something more auspicious may come to pass in the future. But you should confer faithfully with the faithful counsellors in view of what has befallen. And as for my son, if he should come here before I return,

comfort him and escort him to the palace, so that he will not inflict on himself some further ill to crown those already ours. Exit

532

Chorus

O sovereign Zeus, by destroying the army of the haughty and multitudinous Persians,

you have shrouded in the gloom of grief the city of Susa and of Agbatana! Many a woman, who has a share in this sorrow, tears her veil with tender hands

and moistens with drenching tears the robe covering her bosom. And the Persian wives, indulging in soft wailing through longing to behold their lords and abandoning the daintily wrought coverlets of their couches, the delight of their youth,

mourn with complainings that know no end. So I too sustain the truly woeful fate of those who are gone.

548

Chorus

For now in truth the whole land of Asia, decimated, moans:

Xerxes led forth (woe!), Xerxes laid low (woe!), Xerxes disposed all things imprudently with his sea-going vessels. Why then was Darius

in his time so unscathed by disaster, he who was ruler of archers, to the men of Susa a beloved leader?

558

Chorus

For infantry and seamen both, the ships, dark-eyed[*]and linen-winged,

led forth (woe!), the ships laid them low (woe!), the ships, under the deadly impact of the foe and by the hands of Ionians.

The King himself, as we learn, has barely made his escape over the wintry paths which traverse the plains of Thrace.

568

Chorus

And they who were first to meet their doom (alas!), left behind by dire necessity (alas!),

are swept along the Cychrean strand (woe!). Groan and gnash your teeth; in grievous strain shout forth our woes till they reach the heavens (alas!), raise high

your wailing clamor in cries of misery.

576

Chorus

Lacerated by the swirling waters (alas!) they are gnawed (alas!) by the voiceless children of the undefiled sea (alas!). The home, bereaved of his presence, laments its head;

and parents, bereft of their children, in their old age bewail their heaven- sent woes (alas!), now that they learn the full measure of their afflictions.

584

Chorus

Not now for long will those who dwell throughout the length and breadth of Asia

Tokens

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lightly	1	w	16
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you	1	w	22
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if	3	w	417
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I	6	w	440
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and	3	w	460
escort	1	w	466
him	2	w	469
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the	8	w	474
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that	3	w	487
he	11	w	489
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not	2	w	496
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on	5	w	505
himself	1	w	512
some	2	w	516
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ill	3	w	526
to	7	w	528
crown	1	w	533
those	1	w	538
already	1	w	545
ours	1	w	549
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have	2	w	638
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Susa	1	w	676
and	5	w	679
of	7	w	681
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who	1	w	704
has	2	w	707
a	53	w	708
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tears	1	w	731
her	3	w	734
veil	1	w	738
with	2	w	742
tender	1	w	748
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moistens	1	w	764
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covering	1	w	797
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lords	1	w	879
and	8	w	882
abandoning	1	w	892
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of	9	w	921
their	2	w	926
couches	1	w	933
the	19	w	937
delight	1	w	944
of	10	w	946
their	3	w	951
youth	1	w	956
mourn	1	w	962
with	4	w	966
complainings	1	w	978
that	4	w	982
know	2	w	986
no	6	w	988
end	2	w	991
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I	7	w	995
too	2	w	998
sustain	1	w	1005
the	21	w	1008
truly	1	w	1013
woeful	1	w	1019
fate	1	w	1023
of	11	w	1025
those	2	w	1030
who	2	w	1033
are	2	w	1036
gone	1	w	1040
Chorus	2	w	1047
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now	3	w	1053
in	27	w	1055
truth	1	w	1060
the	22	w	1063
whole	1	w	1068
land	1	w	1072
of	12	w	1074
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forth	1	w	1109
woe	2	w	1113
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low	1	w	1129
woe	3	w	1133
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imprudently	1	w	1170
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his	3	w	1177
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vessels	1	w	1193
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then	2	w	1201
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Darius	1	w	1210
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his	4	w	1215
time	1	w	1219
so	9	w	1221
unscathed	1	w	1230
by	2	w	1232
disaster	1	w	1240
he	31	w	1243
who	4	w	1246
was	2	w	1249
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of	13	w	1256
archers	1	w	1263
to	10	w	1266
the	25	w	1269
men	1	w	1272
of	14	w	1274
Susa	2	w	1278
a	84	w	1279
beloved	1	w	1286
leader	1	w	1292
Chorus	3	w	1299
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and	11	w	1313
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the	26	w	1327
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a	96	w	1386
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ship	2	w	1395
seem	1	w	1399
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thing	3	w	1405
of	16	w	1407
life	1	w	1411
Cp	1	w	1414
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Supp	1	w	1425
716	1	w	1429
and	12	w	1433
linen-winged	1	w	1445
led	2	w	1449
forth	2	w	1454
woe	4	w	1458
the	27	w	1464
ships	2	w	1469
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them	1	w	1477
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woe	5	w	1484
the	29	w	1490
ships	3	w	1495
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the	30	w	1504
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the	31	w	1521
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the	32	w	1532
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of	18	w	1539
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himself	2	w	1561
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we	2	w	1566
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his	5	w	1588
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the	33	w	1601
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which	1	w	1617
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the	34	w	1628
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And	4	w	1652
they	1	w	1656
who	5	w	1659
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to	11	w	1670
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their	4	w	1679
doom	1	w	1683
alas	1	w	1688
left	1	w	1695
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by	4	w	1703
dire	1	w	1707
necessity	1	w	1716
alas	2	w	1721
are	4	w	1727
swept	1	w	1732
along	1	w	1737
the	37	w	1740
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strand	1	w	1754
woe	6	w	1758
Groan	1	w	1766
and	16	w	1769
gnash	1	w	1774
your	2	w	1778
teeth	1	w	1783
in	40	w	1786
grievous	1	w	1794
strain	1	w	1800
shout	1	w	1805
forth	3	w	1810
our	5	w	1813
woes	1	w	1817
till	1	w	1821
they	2	w	1825
reach	1	w	1830
the	39	w	1833
heavens	1	w	1840
alas	3	w	1845
raise	1	w	1853
high	1	w	1857
your	3	w	1861
wailing	2	w	1868
clamor	1	w	1874
in	43	w	1876
cries	1	w	1881
of	20	w	1883
misery	1	w	1889
Chorus	5	w	1896
Lacerated	1	w	1905
by	5	w	1907
the	40	w	1910
swirling	1	w	1918
waters	1	w	1924
alas	4	w	1929
they	3	w	1935
are	5	w	1938
gnawed	1	w	1944
alas	5	w	1949
by	6	w	1953
the	42	w	1956
voiceless	1	w	1965
children	1	w	1973
of	21	w	1975
the	43	w	1978
undefiled	1	w	1987
sea	3	w	1990
alas	6	w	1995
The	3	w	2001
home	1	w	2005
bereaved	1	w	2014
of	22	w	2016
his	6	w	2019
presence	1	w	2027
laments	1	w	2035
its	1	w	2038
head	1	w	2042
and	17	w	2046
parents	1	w	2053
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of	23	w	2062
their	5	w	2067
children	2	w	2075
in	45	w	2078
their	6	w	2083
old	2	w	2086
age	1	w	2089
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their	7	w	2100
heaven-	1	w	2107
sent	1	w	2111
woes	2	w	2115
alas	7	w	2120
now	4	w	2126
that	6	w	2130
they	4	w	2134
learn	2	w	2139
the	48	w	2142
full	2	w	2146
measure	1	w	2153
of	24	w	2155
their	8	w	2160
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now	5	w	2184
for	8	w	2187
long	3	w	2191
will	3	w	2195
those	3	w	2200
who	6	w	2203
dwell	1	w	2208
throughout	1	w	2218
the	50	w	2221
length	1	w	2227
and	18	w	2230
breadth	1	w	2237
of	25	w	2239
Asia	2	w	2243